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Around 120 personnel and six Gripens from the Blekinge Air Flotilla arrived in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, as part of a NATO mission. The Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) announced the deployment of six more JAS39 Gripen C fighters from the Blekinge Air Flotilla to northern Poland’s Malbork Air Base on May 26, […]

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The high-speed uncrewed test aircraft performed its first flight at Edwards AFB, just a year after the launch of the development. Hermeus, a U.S. company aiming to develop hypersonic aircraft quickly and cost-effectively, flew for the first time its uncrewed Quarterhorse Mk 1 test aircraft last week, said the company on May 27, 2025. The […]

The post Hermeus’ Uncrewed Quarterhorse Mk 1 Test Aircraft Flies for the First Time appeared first on The Aviationist.

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighter jets are taking part in the Baana 25 exercise underway in Finland. The Royal Netherlands Air Force joined this year’s edition of the Baana highway exercise in Finland, deploying a number of F-35A Lightning II jets. The 5th generation aircraft are taking part to highway operations alongside […]

The post Dutch F-35s Conduct Highway Operations with Finnish F/A-18s appeared first on The Aviationist.

Looking more like a killer than a speedster, the large twin-engine jet built to sweep skies clear of enemy MiGs and deliver large payloads of bombs would also record many “firsts.” Overachiever from the Beginning Out of a requirement for an all-weather fleet defense interceptor, McDonnell Douglas developed the XF4H-1 twin-engine two-seat test aircraft. In […]

The post Fantastic Phantom: the Records set by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 appeared first on The Aviationist.

Less than a year after the first deliveries, the RNLAF completed the transfer of the last of the 24 F-16s promised to Ukraine, which will reach the country after a stop in Belgium. The Netherlands’ Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans revealed in the Dutch talk show WNL op Zondag on May 25, 2025, that the country […]

The post Netherlands Completes Delivery of 24 F-16s to Ukraine appeared first on The Aviationist.

A seven-ship dissimilar formation with B-2A, B-1B, B-52H, F-22A, F-15C, F-16C and A-10C showcased the Air Force’s capabilities at the Air and Sea Show in Miami Beach. In a ceremonial flypast during the Hyundai Air and Sea Show in Miami Beach, Florida, on May 24, 2025, the U.S. Air Force unveiled a first-of-its-kind ‘tri-bomber/fighter dissimilar […]

The post USAF Showcases Airpower with Dissimilar Bomber-Fighter ‘Freedom Formation’ appeared first on The Aviationist.

Typhoons from the RAF 29 Squadron and all Italian Air Force’s units worked together to compare, develop and achieve a Hot Refueling capability. The Italian Air Force has recently announced that its F-2000 Typhoon units trained together with Typhoons from the Royal Air Force’s 29 Squadron, based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, to test a […]

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After the initial IOT&E testing, the MH-139A Grey Wolf took part for the first time in the exercise focused on the safe and secure transport of nuclear weapons and materials. The U.S. Air Force’s new MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter recently participated for the first time in the Nuclear Convoy Course (NCC), a crucial weeklong exercise […]

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The exercise focused on maritime operations to reflect the growing need for MQ-9 capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region, said the Air Force. The recent Exercise Reaper Smoke, held late in April at March Air Reserve Base in California, saw U.S. Air Force Reserve and California Air National Guard – whose 163rd Attack Wing hosted the […]

The post USAF MQ-9 Reapers Prepare for Maritime Operations in the Indo-Pacific with Exercise Reaper Smoke appeared first on The Aviationist.

At least two Strike Eagles have been employed in the tests, equipped with four or six LAU-131 pods which would allow to carry up to 42 rockets during drone-hunting missions. Some images recently surfaced online show U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagles based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flying with a variety of […]

The post New Photos of F-15Es Testing Laser-Guided APKWS Rockets at Eglin AFB appeared first on The Aviationist.

The RAF said that FPV drones have proven their ‘effectiveness in recent conflicts’, reflecting the service’s vision of a future land war in Europe. In an exercise marking the increasing tactical importance of First-Person View (FPV) drones, the Royal Air Force (RAF) announced on May 10, 2025 the completion of a trial deployment of one […]

The post RAF Flies FPV Quadcopter Drone from CH-47 Chinook in ‘Hornet’s Nest’ Trial appeared first on The Aviationist.

A UK Government minister has confirmed that construction of the initial two new Chinook airframes has begun at Boeing’s Philadelphia facility. Answering a written question submitted to the Secretary of State for Defence regarding the status of the outstanding Chinook order, department Minister of State Maria Eagle confirmed for the first time that Boeing has […]

The post First RAF H-47ER Chinooks In Production appeared first on The Aviationist.

The 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron flew the first mission training sortie for the EA-37B on May 2, 2025, says the service, referring to the Compass Call mission. An EA-37B Compass Call aircraft, the U.S. Air Force’s newest dedicated standoff airborne electronic attack aircraft, assigned to the 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron (ECS), flew its first mission […]

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President Trump described the F-55 as a substantial upgrade over the F-35, together with the ongoing upgrades to F-35 and F-22. U.S. President Donald Trump is currently on a tour in the Middle East, and on May. 15, 2025, made the second stop of the tour in Qatar. Trump began the day at a breakfast […]

The post Trump Touts Twin-Engine F-35 Variant Dubbed F-55 appeared first on The Aviationist.

The AIM-174B, also known as the Standard Missile 6 Air Launched Configuration, received the new nickname in the recent Naval Aviation Playbook 2025. Almost a year after it was introduced in service, the AIM-174B long-range missile has now been officially nicknamed “Gunslinger.” The name was included among the new capabilities listed for the F/A-18 Super […]

The post The AIM-174B Has Been Nicknamed ‘Gunslinger’ appeared first on The Aviationist.

Internal disagreements at the Pentagon over future direction of the AEW role could lead to the E-7 Wedgetail becoming a victim of the 2026 budget, sources tell Aviation Week. Elements inside the U.S. Department of Defense, as reported by Aviation Week, favor a dramatic shift in focus from aircraft to satellites for the U.S. military’s […]

The post E-7A Wedgetail Order Under Threat in New Department of Defense Budget appeared first on The Aviationist.

The USAF Chief of Staff posted a graphic featuring the Boeing F-47 stating the aircraft will be in service in the 2025-2029 timeframe with 185+ units planned. Chief of Staff General David Allvin shared the graphic on X/Twitter on May. 13, 2025, commenting that the U.S. Air Force “will continue to be the world’s best […]

The post U.S. Air Force Chief Teases Boeing F-47 Performance and Possible In-Service Date appeared first on The Aviationist.

The turbine-powered variant offers ten times the range of the original Grasshopper autonomous glider at a fraction of the cost of the manned platforms. DZYNE Technologies, the company that developed the Grasshopper autonomous glider meant to deliver cargo in contested environments, successfully tested a turbine-powered Long-Range Grasshopper with “10 times” the range of the original […]

The post Turbine-Powered ‘Long-Range Grasshopper’ Autonomous Cargo Delivery System Tested by DZYNE appeared first on The Aviationist.

The aircraft is the first of 42 F-35B Lightning IIs that will be delivered to the Japan Air Self Defense Force. The Japanese F-35B BX-1 successfully completed its first test flight from Lockheed Martin Facility at NAS Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, on May 12, 2025. Our friends and contributors Gherardo and Victoria Fontana caught […]

The post Exclusive: First Japanese F-35B Makes Maiden Flight appeared first on The Aviationist.

U.S. officials speaking to The New York Times said Houthi rebels ‘nearly struck’ U.S. F-16s and an F-35 within the first 30 days of Operation Rough Rider. A month into Operation Rough Rider, an intensified campaign of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, President Trump wanted to see results. Targeting Houthi air defence sites and […]

The post Houthi Air Defenses Nearly Hit U.S. F-35s and F-16s appeared first on The Aviationist.